


The peculiar case of Nathan Young

by nishiki



Category: Misfits (TV 2009)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Confessions, Crew as Family, Death, Friendship, Gen, Homelessness, Hospitals, Hurt Nathan Young, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Major Character Injury, Misfits family, Nathan Young Being Nathan Young, Nathan Young Has Feelings, Nathan Young Needs A Hug, Sickfic, Stabbing, Villain of the Week, dying, of sorts, stab wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:15:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28379085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: A series of stories in which the gang actually cares about Nathan.
Relationships: Alisha Daniels & Nathan Young, Curtis Donovan & Nathan Young, Kelly Bailey & Nathan Young, Simon Bellamy & Nathan Young
Comments: 23
Kudos: 99





	1. Villain of the week

This villain of the week nonsense was truly getting out of hand. That was, of course, only Alisha’s humble opinion. Simon, that weirdo, would probably beg to differ. Simon, that weirdo, loved all this superhero bullshit. From the moment that storm had hit them and gave them those fucked up powers, the freak was blossoming into a more confident person each day. And he could be confident as he was the one true authority on all this bullshit that was going on here. 

Anyway, apparently, there was a new universal rule that forbade them from just doing their community work in peace for a week without getting attacked by some fuckhead. The same happened today as they had been cleaning up graffiti outside the community center when some weird chick had come up to them and started attacking them without a warning. They had barely managed to get inside unscathed.

Well, maybe, unscathed was a bit much. Unscathed would mean that Alisha wouldn't be locked in the supply closet right now, holding Nathan in her arms as he was slowly bleeding out from a stab wound. The idiot had jumped in front of her as the chick had swung her knife at Alisha. Where the others were, she couldn't say. They had lost them as they had run away from the girl in a blind panic. They could only hope that the others were still alive. 

“What the fuck did you do that for?” Alisha yelled at him.

“Why the fuck not?” Nathan laughed - nay, _cackled_. “It's not like I could die or anything! I’m immortal!”

“You are _not_ immortal! Just mortally challenged!” Alisha shot back. “Because you still fucking die and we have to manhandle your dead body around all the time. Let me tell you something: That's really not a whole lot of fun!”

He was heavy against her, in her arms, and it dawned on her that she had never been this close to the Irishman before. Months of doing community service together, months after first meeting him, and she had never even touched the boy. Suddenly, she realized that she had never _touched_ him. Not that she had wanted to. There was just no telling what someone like Nathan would say when she would accidentally use her power on him. And then she realized that her hand was resting on his naked forearm and had been doing so for the last couple of minutes. 

“Hey, what the fuck?”

“What?” Nathan hummed before he noticed her fingertips on his skin. “Oh…”

“Why does my power not work on you?”

“The fuck do I know?” He then huffed. “Maybe you lost your mojo.” 

She could tell that Nathan was hiding something. Nathan was always hiding shit from them and thought that no one noticed. He was putting up a big fucking show for all of them every day, trying to be the most outlandish prick each and every one of them had ever seen. But it was just that. A show. Alisha could tell because she too was putting on a show each day when she would get up. It started with her make-up, her hair, and her clothes. The first step in her charade. The costume she would put on every day. She had chosen a persona to portray to the world years ago and was putting on a show for everyone around her and now she couldn't simply stop or go back because all people saw was this pretty, easy-going girl - a slut, an attention whore. Nathan was much less of a slut. Instead, he used sharp words and sarcasm to get the attention he craved - even if it was bad attention. It was still better than getting no attention at all.

“Whatever” She scoffed and gingerly pulled the fabric of Nathan’s jumpsuit away from his wound. The knife had hit him in his chest but apparently, it didn't pierce his lungs, otherwise, he would be coughing up blood right now. She could hardly see the wound from all the blood that was soaking his grey shirt. “This looks real bad … What are we going to do now?”

“Well … nothing, I guess. Waiting for the others to handle this crap. Oh … and dying, I guess.”

“Don't you dare shit yourself again!” Alisha warned with amusement in her voice. This was probably the most time she had ever spent with Nathan so far. And she couldn't deny that she was fucking terrified. What if that mental chick would find them here? They were like mice in a trap. As if he could read her mind, Nathan spoke up again.

“Hey, did I ever tell you the story of when I was run over by my deadbeat Dad?”

“You … what?” She knew that she shouldn't be encouraging Nathan with his wild stories and yet she couldn't help but ask. Of course, it didn't escape her that he was trying to take her mind off of the dangerous situation they were in right now. It was … oddly sweet of him. 

“Yeah so … I was fourteen, I guess, and dear old dad swung by for his bi-weekly visit, right? Not that he usually came to see me. The old bastard mostly found some stupid excuse not to see me. I stopped caring at some point. Not like I needed him to find an excuse to be out of the house during the weekends to escape the new boyfriend of the week at that time. Where was I? Right. The car. So, Daddy-dearest swung by and, as per usual, we got in a fight within five minutes of him arriving there. My mum was dating this absolute tool at the time, Josh - new age, hippy, you know? Anyway, Josh tried to sit us all down and figure this shit out. Naive bastard. It ended with my mum and dad getting in an even bigger fucking fight than my dad and I.” - She noticed that his accent was getting stronger and his words more slurred by the second now - “We threw all kinds of nasty remarks around and then my dad stormed out. Of course, I couldn't just let him get away with whatever he said, and went after him, followed him to the car, and shit. Well, he didn't see me behind his car as he backed out of the driveway as quickly as he could, and wouldn't you know it, before I knew what was going on, I was underneath my dad's car - broken leg and all. Never saw my dad so worried. I think he started turning grey that day. Well … Not that he cared enough to actually visit me in the hospital or visit me on the weekends like he was supposed to, right? I barely saw him after that incident. My mum said it was better this way anyway.”

He was turning paler and his skin was getting colder. He was immortal. Of course. Alisha had just to remind herself that Nathan would just wake back up after he would die but still it was a horrible fucking feeling to have Nathan in her arms and feeling the life drain out of him like this while this idiot was still trying to distract her from the horror of all of this crap.

“Wow,” She muttered. “The worst my dad ever did was … I dunno … not coming to the school play I was in, I guess.”

“Oho!” He yowled. “A drama kid! I knew it! Tell me every sick little detail.”

She chortled at that. “Well … It wasn't that big of a deal … I mean … I mostly just did it to get my parents to pay attention to me every once in a while.”

“Hmm … I feel you, sis,” He hummed. “I didn't join the drama club or anything but I started doing stupid shit. Didn't work much.”

“Same,” She huffed. “My parents only ever had eyes for my big brother Darren, you know? Darren here, Darren there. Darren, Darren, Darren. Perfect Darren, with the perfect grades, the perfect manners, the perfect looks, and the perfect future ahead of him. I could’ve run around naked for all I cared and they wouldn't have noticed it.”

“Tried that,” Nathan shrugged. “It was just cold and uncomfortable and my mum yelled at me to get dressed. Wouldn't recommend it.”

Alisha had always known that Nathan and she were too much alike to become friends. She had felt this kind of kinship between them from the start and to no surprise, they often found each other on the same side of an argument even though for vastly different reasons sometimes. She couldn't help the fond smile now as she looked at the Irishman. 

“What?” He muttered.

“I was just thinking,” She said with a shrug. “Simon once said that our powers all had something to do with … well … us. Our personalities and how we are wired.”

“That little freak,” Nathan replied but he sounded fond as he did. There was no denying that Simon and Nathan had grown closer lately. Two peas in a pot, really.

“I mean … I thought it was stupid at first but … I guess he has a point kinda.” She trailed off at that, not sure if she should have this kind of conversation with Nathan of all people. The Irishman surprised her, as he slowly sat up to lean his back against one of the metal shelves that were lining the walls. He looked like crap and his eyes were unreadable.

“I tried killing myself,” He said so out of the blue that it gave her whiplash but before she could say anything or even acknowledge the way her heart clenched at that confession, he continued. “A lot, actually. When I was … Twelve, I guess, I tried to hang myself in my closet with the tie of my school uniform.” He made a choking sound and a very much unneeded gesture with his hands to emphasize his story. “My mum found me just as I started passing out. She rushed me to the hospital, of course, and I had to talk to a child psychologist but I lied and told them that it was some weird sex thing I had heard about at school.” He laughed but there was no humor to his voice and his eyes had taken on that far away look that she had sometimes seen on him when he thought he didn't have an audience. 

“I tried again when I was fourteen, not long after that car incident. It was my birthday and … well, what can I say? Josh had just left my mum and so good old Louise had her head up her own arse again, wallowing in self-pity and wine. She always got like that when she lost another boy toy due to me being too difficult. So … yeah, mum wasn’t home all day, dad didn't even call, my grandmother hasn’t spoken to me since I called her a cunt at age eight when she told me to apologize to the priest that molested me before we left Ireland and I still thought, well, maybe Mum would come home later with a surprise for me. So, I said in the kitchen with the cake I tried baking for myself without setting the kitchen on fire and waited. Then midnight rolled around and I realized that she was probably in some stranger’s bed. I dove into her medicine cabinet, got all the sleeping pills I could find, and washed them down with wine. Needless to say, it didn't work because I threw them all up about half an hour later when my mum finally tumbled back home drunk off her ass. She yelled at me, called me an attention seeker, and signed me up for therapy yet again.” 

He paused for a moment, staring at the wall opposite him and she noticed that he didn't seem to have the strength for hand motions anymore. His jumper was black by now from all the blood and he was so pale she could see his veins through his skin. 

“With seventeen,” He then said and she really wished he would stop talking. “I slit my wrists in the bathtub … Mum’s boyfriend at the time found me and I went straight back into hospital and the psych ward for a while. So … Yeah … Maybe Simon is onto something, right? I mean, when I woke up in that coffin … It felt like irony punched me in the fucking face. I wanted nothing more than to die for so many years and now I can’t. I did everything in my power to self-destruct and now I am invincible and people are coming for me all the time to fucking kill me. Dying sucks.”

She didn't know what to say for the longest time. She thought back to the day they got Nathan out of his coffin and how nonchalant he reacted to it all as if he hadn't been facing the possibility of remaining underneath ground forever. If that message had never reached them, he would still be in his coffin.

“What was it like?” She asked carefully. “In the coffin.”

“Tough crowd,” He huffed. “I was fucking terrified, of course. But I had my iPod so I could listen to music and had a bit of light … but when the battery died … When I was in total darkness I became so fucking scared that I couldn't breathe. I died at least three times in that coffin from lack of air until you guys found me. That was no fun. A part of me thought that this was my just punishment for being such an asshole and fucking everything up all the time and trying to kill myself. I thought maybe this was purgatory.”

“I know what you mean,” Alisha sighed. “I was a right slut, alright? Before the storm, I mean. I decided, if I didn't get any attention at home, I would find it elsewhere. So I went clubbing and to parties and started sleeping around. I couldn't even tell you how I lost my virginity anymore. It was at some random party. I enjoyed the attention that I would get for my looks and my loose behavior. At least it was attention, right? And then when the storm hit and gave me this awful power … First I used it on all kinds of people without a thought in the world and then it dawned on me that I was … pretty much forcing those people to fuck me, that I didn't give them any choice in the matter. When I realized that, I realized that I had become untouchable. And I thought that it was my punishment for the way I treated myself and my body with such little regard for myself and my dignity. Back then, I thought that sex was the only way to get people to like me and put up with me and when I couldn't use that anymore I became terrified because suddenly my superpower was gone and I knew that no one would actually give me the time of day without it, that nobody cared for what I had to say or for the dreams I had and shit.”

“That's not true,” Nathan murmured. He could hardly keep his eyes open right now. “I care … We all care.”

“I know,” She replied and quickly wiped off a tear that decided to run down her cheek. “I know. I didn't … at first … but now … We are a crazy bunch, aren’t we? I never felt so … at home. I never really had friends before, not real friends. Not the type of friends who would bury a body with me.” She laughed and Nathan chimed in even though it was disrupted by a cough. And now he was actually coughing up blood. Fuck.

“Yeah … me neither. The people I hung out with … they threw me under the bus the first chance they would get and no one was there when my mum kicked me out and I needed a place to stay. You lot are crazy enough to actually put up with me … Well, of course, I am a charming guy, aren’t I?”

“Sure,” She whispered as Nathan’s eyes slipped close. And, just like that, he was gone. At first, she didn't register it but then he noticed that his chest had stopped moving and his head fell forward without any support left. She startled at the realization that he was dead but then, after a moment of hesitation, she pulled him back against her and wrapped her arms around the Irishman as if he was just asleep. A part of her thought that this was exactly what Nathan needed and it certainly was what she needed right now.

※※※※※※※

Hours later when the gang was at the local pub after their latest near-death (and in Nathan’s case, death) experience to have a couple of drinks, Nathan was still a bit stiff. The others had found them in the supply closet while Nathan had still been dead and for the first time, everyone stayed behind to wait for him to wake up again. Of course, he hadn't said anything to Alisha about the time in the closet so far. He had gone back to making jokes straight away as if all of that had been a dream.

However, as Alisha and he were alone in their booth for a couple of minutes, she leaned forward to look at Nathan. “About earlier … about … about what you told me…”

“I don't know what you’re talking about,” Nathan said with a shrug, a mischievous smile spreading over his face, and a wink flying her way. “I tend to forget the crap I said right before I die.”

She was dumbfounded for a second but then she smiled in return and leaned back in her seat. He raised his glass at her and she returned the gesture. This was a pact, after all. Nathan would never tell anybody what Alisha had told him inside that closet and she wouldn't tell anybody what Nathan had confessed to her. She was determined to honor his secret. A secret pushed so far down that not even Kelly seemed aware of it. A darkness behind those impish, bottle-green eyes and that cocky grin. And something else too. Something, Alisha wondered if Nathan was even aware of. Just to test things out, she reached over the table and brushed his hand with hers but he didn't react to it, just looked down in surprise and then pulled his hand back quickly as if burned. 

“I’m … taking a leak,” He muttered as he got out of the booth just as Kelly and Curtis returned.

“Everything alright?” Kelly asked with that thick chav accent of hers but Alisha pushed down the thoughts she had, buried it so deep that even Kelly couldn't find the truth, and nodded as he watched Nathan’s retreating back. Another secret she would keep for Nathan. Well, it was the least she could do for him after Nathan had jumped in front of a knife for her. 

**-End of Chapter 1-**


	2. the nest

Doing community work with Nathan Young as a partner was like doing community work with a squirrel on speed. Nathan had never made a secret of his ADHD tendencies and his lack of ability to focus on any given task. They had known it from day one, actually. Well, sometimes it was not his inability to focus on a task either but his _unwillingness_ to focus on it because he would much rather do literally _anything_ else. Not that Curtis wouldn't get it. He too could think of a million much more rewarding and comfortable things to do than picking up trash at the park in the sweltering August heat. Days in which the weather wasn’t shit were rare in London and of course, the sun had decided that today was the day to creep out of her weird little shell and torment the two young men in their orange overalls. 

The others were assigned a different task at the center. Apparently, Shaun had enough of them dicking around when the five of them were together. It was a miracle that they would get any work done at all on most days with Nathan being an annoying prick to everyone and challenging them to the most ridiculous things or with Alisha constantly reapplying her makeup and making sure she was looking nice. 

The only hard workers of their team were Kelly and Simon because Curtis had to admit to himself that he too wasn’t that much of a hard worker. It wasn't like he was slacking off or lazy per se but he allowed himself to get distracted by Nathan's shenanigans far too easily and readily sometimes. He had lost his drive, he had lost his discipline. The same discipline that had made him one of the best in his field. It seemed that he had lost it with losing his career and now sometimes he didn't even recognize himself anymore. Those also were the days when getting out of bed was harder than normal and when community work tended to be more stressful because it reminded him of all the shit he had messed up with this one wrong decision. 

Today was such a day. His mood was exceptionally bad and he was only minutes away from murdering Nathan with one of the multiple empty plastic bags he was picking up out of bushes. One more stupid joke from the Irishman and Curtis Donovan wouldn't be able to hold back anymore. Nathan really had a talent for testing his patience. Which was only one reason why he didn't like to team up with the other man when it was just going to be them. 

“Hey, look at this!” Nathan called out and before he knew it, the other man flung a used condom in his direction. Curtis barely had time to get out of the way before the thing could hit him straight in the face.

“What the fuck, Man!”

“Oh, would you lighten up already?” Nathan cackled and jumped away as Curtis took a sharp step towards the other delinquent. In fact, Nathan jumped so quickly that he lost his footing and actually fell on his ass. A snort escaped Curtis at his companion’s misfortune. Served him right. As Nathan didn't get up, though, he started to get a bit annoyed. Well, annoyance was just the typical emotion one would feel when dealing with Nathan. There was nothing unusual about that, something that Curtis had gotten used to by now. It came with the territory. 

“Get your ass up, Nathan, I’m not doing all the work on my own!”

“Care to give me a hand?”

“Fuck no.”

“Oh come on, have you been raised in a barn?” Nathan cawed. “Rude bastard! I thought you English people were so fucking polite, mate!”

“Not to a prick like you!” Curtis huffed and walked a few steps away to resume the trash picking. Shaun would probably soon come to have a look at their work - not that he honestly cared about the work they were doing out here or about the delinquents he was supposed to watch. Ten minutes later, Nathan was still sitting on the ground, earning himself a groan from Curtis. Nobody ever said Nathan wasn’t stubborn. 

“Jesus Christ!” Curtis addressed him with a deep groan. He really wasn’t patient enough to deal with their resident troublemaker. Sometimes he really marveled at Simon’s patience when it came to dealing with this man without hitting him over the head all the time as Kelly would. “Would you get up already? I’m not going to do your work too!”

“Yeah, so funny story?”

“No!” Curtis shot back. “Just get up and do your job!”

“Yeah … so … I can't get up.”

That gave him a pause. “I’m not going to fall for your bullshit. You can try that shit on Simon.” Yet, as he looked at Nathan now, he indeed looked kinda pathetic the way he sat in the dirt. Curtis usually didn't pay Nathan much mind but as he had time to take in his appearance now he started to register a few things that seemed off about the Irishman. Sure, he had always been pale but right now he looked almost deathly so. Dark circles were painted against his skin under his bottle-green eyes. He looked tired.

“Jesus,” He muttered again and held out a hand for Nathan. The Irishman took it but it shook in Curtis’ grasp. Quickly, he pulled Nathan back to his feet. The young man swayed for a second. “You okay?”

“Peachy!” Nathan grinned and quickly moved away from Curtis. In fact, he looked a little like he was trying to flee from his attention - which was odd only in the sense that Curtis had never seen someone who was more of an attention whore than Nathan Young. He was loud and boisterous and crass to get attention for the most part but right now, he seemed to be rather anywhere else but in the center of Curtis’ attention. He should probably be happy about that fact but by now Curtis had learned that if Nathan Young was behaving strangely compared to his usual modus operandi, it was rarely a sign of a good thing to come. For the moment, however, Curtis directed his attention back at his work as he started to pick up trash again.

A few blissfully quiet minutes passed in which both of them were just working. At some point, however, Curtis started to become suspicious and turned around to see what his friend was up to. Well, it turned out that Nathan was up to nothing at all because he was laying face down on the ground.

Once more he stopped dead in his tracks and couldn't help but just stare at the other young man. It was probably just one more of Nathan’s usual stupid games he was playing to get out of doing the actual work. Nathan was about the laziest person Curtis Donovan had ever had the bad fortune of knowing. He still slowly walked over to where the boy was lying in the dirt - just to make sure. Prepared to hit him over the head with his tool as soon as Nathan would inevitably jolt up to startle him, Curtis approached the misfit whose crime was still a mystery for the rest of the group. 

“Nathan.” The name rolled off his lips with a heavy sigh. He couldn't help but notice that the number of sighs increased exponentially in accordance with the time he would spend in close proximity to the Irishman. “Come on, get up. We’re almost done here. Let’s go back to the others already.” Nathan, however, didn't move a muscle. Well, he was a committed actor. “Nathan!” And yet still he didn't move even as Curtis nudged him not so gently with his foot. 

“Nathan?” He nudged him again before he slowly crouched down beside him, still cautious about the possibility that Nathan might just jump at him to scare him - lying in wait until Curtis would be close enough to give him a proper heart attack. The scare didn't come even as he shook Nathan’s shoulder gingerly. His fingers quickly found Nathan’s neck, pressing into the white flesh of his friend until he found his pulse. He was alive, at least, but apparently unconscious for some reason. After a moment of hesitation, he turned the young man onto his back. Nathan’s eyes were closed, his jaw slack and his mouth hanging open just slightly. He smacked Nathan’s cheek, hoping to wake him up this way.

“Nathan!” He yelled at the other as if this might help. “Nathan, wake up!”

Nathan groaned, his eyelids fluttered but it took him several attempts to actually open his eyes - and even longer to focus on Curtis. 

“Hey,” He addressed his friend once more, quieter this time, maybe even a bit softer. “Are you back with me?”

“Did you kiss me?” Nathan muttered. “Does this mean you are my one true love?”

“I take that as a yes.” Curtis rolled his eyes in response. “What happened?”

“Don't know.” A lie. He could tell that he was lying. Nathan thought that he was a marvelous liar but the opposite was the truth. He was, in fact, the worst liar Curtis had ever come across. He should probably call him out on his bullshit but, in the end, he knew that there wouldn't be much of a point in that. Nathan wouldn't tell him the truth regardless. That was just a fact of life when dealing with Nathan fucking Young. He would come up with some outlandish story or try to distract him with something, which would end in Curtis getting frustrated and probably killing Nathan. 

“Yeah, sure,” He sighed and offered him a hand once more to help him up. The moment Nathan got to his feet, he swayed much like he did before but this time he actually all but fell again. He seemed unsteady on his feet, his knees weak and shaky so Curtis was actually forced to steady him. “What the hell, Nate?”

“Too much weed, probably,” He cackled and slowly freed himself from Curtis' grasp even though he almost stumbled over his own two feet doing so. “Let’s head back.”

He was almost amazed as he watched Nathan slowly walk away from him as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened - as if he had not passed out in the middle of the day without warning and as if he didn't look like he was only seconds away from passing out once more. Curtis had no choice but to follow him with a shake of his head and a roll of his eyes.

※※※※※※※

It was already dark when Curtis returned to the Community Center. They had been forced to stay behind to help the renovations after one of the painters had fallen off his ladder and broke his leg. Of course, Nathan had bitched about it to Shaun and said something about him violating their rights and shit but it had been of no use. They had all been tired as they left but no one had dragged their feet as much as Nathan.

The only reason Curtis returned to the center was that he had forgotten his phone in the locker room. The center wasn’t open at this time but he knew that Nathan should be back inside by now and would be able to open the door for him. He went straight to the entrance and knocked against the glass as loud as he could. Nathan’s bedroom was only a couple of feet away.

“Nathan!” He called out and knocked again but nothing happened. He tried a couple more times but nothing and the doors were still locked too as it seemed. He couldn't see any light either. With a frustrated groan, he took a look around and decided to walk around to the other side. Maybe Nathan was in the showers and would hear him when he would knock at the back door. He tried the backdoor and discovered much of the same results. Only when he was about to give up did he notice something in the open dumpster behind the center. A dirty old rotten mattress. The sight gave him pause. Wasn’t this Nathan’s bed? And then he realized that the mezzanine had been empty today … for a couple of days, actually. 

For a moment, maybe even a couple of minutes, Curtis just stared at the mattress inside the dumpster dumbfounded and wondered just how he hadn’t noticed earlier that Nathan’s bedroom had been removed from the Community Center’s lobby. For months, nobody had seemed to care about the dirty old mattress lying around on the mezzanine and clearly being used as a place to sleep for someone - and surely some member of the staff had to have noticed this, right? It wasn’t like Nathan’s bedroom had been hidden from sight at all! It had been more like a glaring sore thumb! And yet, no one had ever said anything. Not that bitch Sally who would have had more than enough reason to bitch about it or maybe even call the cops on Nathan, and not Shaun either. Well, Shaun probably just didn't care. He wasn’t paid enough to care. 

Still, it wasn't like the probation workers were the only ones working there either! What about all those volunteers? Or the people visiting the center for some event or the other? It was a miracle that Nathan’s sleeping quarters hadn't been removed earlier and still, despite knowing about Nathan’s sleeping arrangement … it had never struck him really. The knowledge about Nathan being homeless had been always there, always in the peripheral, so to speak. He had had too much on his mind to waste a thought about it - and why would he? It was Nathan, after all. It wasn’t like they were best friends or anything - even though the Irishman had grown on him a little. Right now that he was staring at the dirty mattress, however, it struck him for the first time that, yes, Nathan Young, his friend, really was homeless and had been sleeping at the community center, surviving only on what he could get out of the vending machine with what little cash he had - or with brute force. 

As the thought hit, he didn't quite know how to feel about it. He didn't pity Nathan because he probably had really upset his mother to be kicked out by her but he still felt for him. What was it like to have no one in your corner who would take you in for a while? Curtis himself didn't have many friends left since the whole ordeal that brought him here but at least he had a loving family, right? Sure, they were disappointed in him and his dad wouldn't speak to him after ruining his dream of having a famous son but … if he would need them they would still be there for him. If he would go homeless all of a sudden, they would lend him a helping hand … right? It was odd to think of Nathan as a homeless dude. Then again, not for the first time, Curtis realized that the other troubled young man had a very strong poker face when he wanted to. He went through life telling outlandish stories, making fun of everything and everyone to deflect from what was really going on inside of him and now that the community center was being renovated, he had lost his home yet again.

And just like that, it clicked in his brain what had been going on with Nathan today. Where did he sleep now? The nights were cold and he had no place to go, apparently. Was he currently trying to find a warm spot somewhere? Was he laying curled up in some dirty alleyway? The thought made something inside his chest curl tightly and painfully. Yes, Nathan was a prick but he was also the type of person who would take a knife to the chest for one of his friends and the type of person who would make them all laugh after yet another gruesome encounter. He was the kind of person who was loud and boisterous and drew attention towards him to get it off someone else. He was the kind of person who could also get very quiet when he had to be in order to console someone. Kelly had once called Nathan a total sweetheart in front of Alisha and Curtis hadn’t understood it. Later, after the knife incident, Alisha had come to the same conclusion. She had never told him about what happened while they had been locked in the supply closet but whatever it was, it had changed her perception of Nathan drastically as it seemed now. 

He thought about something his mother had once told him when he was in elementary school and that one kid, Billy, had picked on him relentlessly. _‘Those who are the loudest and the cruelest to others are usually the ones who are the most hurt and need the most love from us.’_ Maybe it was this thought that made him finally snap out of his trance and start walking again. His phone was forgotten. He was a man on a mission. The mission to find Nathan.

Of course, he had no idea where to look for the young man. He just walked around the area surrounding the community center. He stuck to looking into alleyways before he finally ended up in the park again. After he had entered the park, it didn't take long to find Nathan. He was lying curled up on a bench trying to sleep. Evidently, he didn't have much success with that and that, of course, explained why he was so tired that he had passed out earlier and had hardly been able to keep on his feet.

“Nathan?” He called out to his friend and was rewarded with a reaction out of the other man as Nathan all but jumped at the sound of his voice. He sat up straight, quickly looking around and then finding Curtis approaching him in the light of the lampposts that were lining the path.

“Curtis!” He opted for his usual cheerful approach and Curtis had expected nothing else. “Curtis, my man! Did you already miss me so badly that you came to find me here? You should be in bed by now! It's way past your curfew!”

“What are you doing out here?” Just like Nathan opted for being playful, Curtis opted for acting stupid and oblivious. 

“Oh just … stargazing, you know?”

“Stargazing.”

“Yes.”

“I didn't know you were interested in the stars.”

“I am interested in a lot of things.” Nathan wiggled his brows. Curtis, however, made it a point to stare at the sky next. The sky that was a) filled with clouds this night and b) so polluted from the lights of London that there was no chance to ever see a single star on that thing.

“Show me the great dipper then.”

“The what?”

“Come on, Nathan, what are you really doing out here?”

“What do you care?” Nathan huffed. “I mean I realize that my charm can be quite intoxicating and leads to many people falling helplessly in love with me but I would have never dreamed that you would be one of those people my dear Curtis! Anyway, you should probably get in line then.”

“I found your bed in the trash,” Curtis cut him off because otherwise, Nathan might go on for hours. “I didn't really think about it the past couple of days - that I haven't seen your nest on the mezzanine, I mean. The community center gets renovated and your stuff has been thrown out. They got new locks too, didn't they?”

“Maybe.”

“Where are you sleeping now?”

“You are currently standing in my bedroom so to speak - which is cool but usually people take their clothes off in my bedroom.”

“That's why you passed out today, didn't you? Because you didn't sleep properly for a few days now - because you probably didn't eat properly too?”

“No reason to get your panties all up in a bunch.”

“Why don't you talk to your mum? She wouldn't want you out here like this!”

“Curtis, dear, you don't know my mother,” Nathan grinned humorlessly and finally sat up on the bench but only to take out a pack of cigarettes, put one between his dry lips, and light it. Curtis had never been a fan of smoking. He was an athlete, after all, and those things were just bad for the human body. “I mean even if I wanted to go back to that house, I don't know if she would let me back in. I think she’s quite happy with her lot in life now that she’s gotten rid of me. I heard she and Jezza got married recently. Not that she would have invited me or something - why would she? She was probably worried that I would cause a ruckus or ruin her big day or something. My mum always dreamt of that nice wedding, right? With my dad, she just went to the registry office and signed some paperwork and they only got married because dad knocked her up. So, yeah, I ruined her first wedding and marriage and … life, I guess. Why would she want me there now?”

“That’s rough man,” Curtis said but cringed at his own words the same second because it sounded so fucking weak. 

Nathan had never talked to him like this. There had not been a single moment during their friendship in which Nathan had ever actually opened up about anything to Curtis and a part of him wondered if they could even be called friends at all. They were mates by circumstance, he would say. It wasn’t like any of them would have gone out of their way to befriend one of the others in normal life, right? Then again it seemed fitting that they all got together like this. Curtis had understood a long time ago that they were the kinds of people that just didn't fit in anywhere else. They were the kind of people that had gotten bullied in school and that had never had any real friends. All of them. 

Alisha had developed into a mean girl because of it, thinking the only way to make friends was using her body. Kelly had started fighting people because of it and developed as tough of an outer shell as a fucking tank. Simon had just turned invisible in the hope that the other kids would stop picking on him then, keeping to himself and drowning himself in his hobbies instead. He had turned to focus on sports because that was the one thing he could make his dad proud with at least and the better he got, the more medals he got, the more people had started to accept him as well. And Nathan … Well, Nathan had probably started to make his bullies laugh. He was the class clown. Always loud, always drawing the attention towards himself, always surrounding himself with people without having any real friends. In Curtis’ eyes, Nathan was the definition of a lonely kid. Even now that he was apparently too afraid to ask any of them for help.

It struck him that Nathan probably wasn’t even afraid that they would tell him no either - he was afraid that they would pity him and his situation. He could get behind that mindset. Nothing was worse than being pitied by other people. The same happened to him when he was busted for Sam’s drugs. Some of his friends had pitied him - before they dropped him, of course. None of them had been willing to remain friends with someone like him. A part of him couldn't even blame them for it because he didn't know what he would have done had their places been swapped.

“Hey,” He began before he could actually form a proper plan in his head. “Would you like to spend the night at my place?”

“Geez,” Nathan chuckled. “You could buy me dinner first!”

“Listen, Mate” - Curtis held up his hands in defeat - “I really don't care what you do, right? I’m just saying, you could get a full night of rest again and some proper food. We can't have you pass out from exhaustion every other day just because you are too proud to actually take a helping hand or because you can’t get your life under control. Take the offer or leave it, I really don't care.”

He started walking again to underline his point. For a moment, nothing happened but then he heard Nathan’s footsteps behind him, following him down the path.

**-End of Chapter 2-**


	3. The Sniffles

Nathan was sick. Kelly Bailey could see it right away. She didn't need to listen to his thoughts to know that. Even though it helped that he was whining inside his own head like a toddler. No, scratch that. Not even toddlers were this whiny. Nathan Young was a curious specimen. He would make a big deal out of a case of ‘The Sniffles’ but he wouldn't say a thing when something a little more serious would be going on. Usually, Kelly wouldn't say anything either then. Nathan was an adult, after all. They were all adults. And she, in her grand wisdom, expected adults to open their god-damn mouths and speak when something was wrong. 

Maybe that was a little naive - Especially when dealing with Nathan fucking Young. 

Ever since Nathan had found out that he was immortal, he would trust that his immortality would get him out of every situation. He wasn’t wrong about that either - for the most part, at least. He had died enough times to prove that his wounds would heal every time that he would return from the dead but Kelly thought that dying from a case of the sniffles just to end his own misery and return to live healthy again was the wrong approach. 

Kelly could tell that he was woozy as he was going through his day. Nathan had always been clumsy - so it was not that surprising that he was stumbling around the community center throughout the day. He had been sniffling and coughing all week by that point and the weekend was just around the corner.

“Eww Nathan!” Alisha called out as Nathan spat on the floor just outside of the Community Center as they were all leaving. Going back in had become harder for Nathan since they renovated the place. That didn't mean that he hadn’t found a place to sleep in there already. He looked rotten as Kelly glanced at him from the side. If Simon would be around today he would have probably started fretting over the other boy but Simon had called in sick, funnily enough. Even Curtis looked a little worried at their troublemaker.

“Don't mind me,” Nathan huffed. “I’m just going back inside, lay down and die.”

“You’re such a baby,” Kelly sighed and Alisha grunted in agreement. 

“Yes, just laugh about me!” Nathan grunted nasally. “But you’ll be really sorry when I’m dead!”

“You are immortal,” Alisha laughed and shook her head as she and Curtis took off. Kelly actually hesitated for a moment, staying behind, reluctant to leave her sick friend.

“You could come with me,” She finally offered but, to her surprise, Nathan actually brushed her off. Nathan, who was always happy to take any offer of shelter or food. Nathan could be a leech sometimes. It was almost concerning that he was not trying to leech off of her right now.

“Nah, I’m fine,” He replied. “It's all good. See you on Monday.”

※※※※※※※

Saturday had crawled by at a snail’s pace. All her friends had been busy doing other things and, in the end, Kelly had ended up spending her day in front of the TV. As Sunday promised to be the same, Kelly decided to go to the Community Center to look after Nathan instead of spending another day scooped up at home. 

Of course, the doors were locked when Kelly arrived and she didn't even really know if Nathan was ‘home’ at all. He wouldn't pick up his phone when she tried calling him but that was not all that unusual for Nathan. He was a troublemaker through and through even if causing trouble only meant that he wouldn't answer his friends when they called him. It was the little things that kept Nathan afloat. 

Kelly ended up knocking at the new glass doors but neither did she expect an answer from inside nor did she get one. They all knew that Nathan needed a proper place to sleep soon. Now, after the community center had been renovated, he had a much harder time getting inside and staying the night. He couldn't live here forever and even Nathan seemed aware of that fact - even though he still refused to address the situation and actually do anything about it. She knew that Nathan would never go to his mother to tell her about his plight and there was no way he would get out of the situation by himself either.

After waiting for a couple of minutes and trying Nathan’s phone again, Kelly actually went to the window that Nathan always used to get in and out of the center. As expected, it wasn’t locked from the inside and even Kelly with her limited acrobatic skills, quickly made it inside. 

“Nathan?” She called out to her friend, unbothered by the prospect of getting caught. It wasn't like the people running the center cared all that much about security. Certainly not enough to employ someone to look after the building on the weekends. Being here now, on a weekend when no one else was around was strange, even a little eerie, she would say. How Nathan was able to sleep here in peace was beyond her. The place gave her the creeps, especially after all the mess that had happened already since the storm. As she was walking the dark corridors, it seemed like an ax-murderer could be lurking behind the next corner at every turn she made. There was no ax-murderer here, though, as she walked into the lobby where once Nathan’s bedroom had been set up on the mezzanine. 

Of course, the mezzanine was empty now. There was no mattress anymore lying around and no Nathan to be found either. The sight was almost sad. She thought about the couch in Sean’s office. If he was here, he was probably there, with the TV wheeled in and watching some crappy old movie again. Nathan, she had learned, had a thing for black and white movies. Certainly something she wouldn't have thought of her friend.

She turned into the corridor that held the administration offices and quickly found Sean’s office. As expected, the door was ajar. Sean always closed it when he left. He never bothered to lock it, really. There was nothing there of interest anyway. 

“Nathan?” She called out again, a little quieter this time as she pushed the door all the way open and then walked inside. Nathan was lying on the sofa, fast asleep. She furrowed her brows at the way he was lying there. Sure, Nathan was lazy but not even he would be sleeping in the middle of the day. He was probably still feeling sick, she assumed as she walked over. His face was pale, his cheeks red, though. Gingerly, not wanting to startle him, she placed the back of her hand on his forehead. He was burning up.

“Shit!” She hissed and grabbed his shoulders to wake him up. “Nathan!” His head lolled uselessly from one side to the other and she quickly realized that there was no way she would actually be able to wake him up. Even without a thermometer, she could tell that his fever was dangerously high. 

A decision needed to be made and Kelly, thankfully, had always been good at making decisions. She couldn't actually carry her friend even though Nathan was only skin and bones. So, she pulled his arm around her shoulders and lifted him like this from the sofa. He was dead weight against her but, for a second, his eyes opened, he groaned, and then his head fell forward again. Shit. Kelly moved as quickly as she could as she walked to the front doors of the center and unlocked them to get herself and Nathan out in the open. She walked away from the center until she reached a bench where she could lie Nathan down carefully.

Even before she made the phone call, she knew her friend would be pissed but for now, she really didn't care. There was this nagging voice in the back of her mind reminding her that Nathan was immortal and that he would just come back fine if he died from whatever he was going through but that didn't really ease her worries. 

Twenty minutes later, she was sitting in the waiting room of the nearest hospital. Nathan’s phone was in her hand. She had to make another decision as long as Nathan was unconscious. The doctors were taking care of him. Pneumonia, they said. Of course, Nathan would manage to get pneumonia in the middle of August and not ask anyone for help. Idiot.

She stared at Nathan’s phone in her hands. She had his contacts opened, staring at the entry labeled ‘Dad’. “Fuck it” She muttered as she pressed the call button.

Another twenty minutes later, Kelly came face to face with Mike Young for the first time. She recognized the man right away from his wild mop of hair that was so similar to his son’s. He too seemed to recognize Kelly right away as the mysterious caller that had alerted him of his son’s condition as he wandered into the waiting room.

“Kelly?” He addressed her when she stood up from the plastic chair she had been sitting on. 

“Nice to meet you,” She replied. “The doctor said we are allowed to visit him, I’m sure you want to see him.”

Mike nodded, visibly shaken just by the knowledge that his son was in the hospital. Mike’s thoughts were racing. It almost gave her a headache. He was thinking of Jamie, his other son. Surely, he was afraid to lose another child. Kelly reached out and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“He’s gonna be okay. Nathan’s like a cockroach.”

Mike breathed out a laugh at that. “Yeah,” He huffed. “Yeah, he is. I just … don't understand how it could have come to this. I mean … I would have thought his roommates would have noticed that he was doing this badly and gotten him to a doctor before he could develop pneumonia, right? I’m gonna have a serious talk with those guys.”

Kelly cleared her throat at that. “Yeah … about that...”

“What?”

“Uhm … Nathan is homeless.”

“What?” Mike’s confusion quickly turned into irritation. “Has he gotten himself kicked out by his friends too?”

“No,” Kelly breathed. “No … He never had any roommates. When his mum kicked him out, he started living at the community center. That's where I found him. I told the doctors I was out with him when he collapsed to not raise any questions. He’s been living there for months now.”

Mike was visibly shaken by that news. 

“I just thought you should know,” She said. “Nathan is too proud to ask for help. He’s not safe at the community center at night, though.”

“Thank you, Kelly,” Mike said and squeezed her shoulder. “You are a good friend. I’m glad my idiot son has someone like you watching out for him. I will take care of that now.” She nodded and turned away. Sure, she wanted to talk to Nathan before she would leave but then, she thought, Nathan would probably be angry with her for calling his dad. He could be angry at her in a few days when they would meet at the community center. Until then, Kelly thought, she would go back to spend a little more time in front of the TV knowing now that her friend was in safe hands.

**-End of Chapter 3-**


End file.
